Performers in a ceremony marking the completion (February 2010) of China's pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai China.Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty Images
Kenneth G. Lieberthal
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Relations with Taiwan
A major unresolved issue in the region has been the status of Taiwan. Since 1949 the regimes on both the mainland and Taiwan have agreed that Taiwan is a province of China—the principal difference being that each has asserted it is the legitimate government of the country. Tensions were especially high between the two entities in the first decades after the split, marked by periodic artillery duels between batteries on the Taiwan-controlled islands of Matsu and Qemoy, just off the coast of Fujian province, and those opposite them on the mainland. The ROC’s claim of legitimacy was dealt a serious blow after 1970 with its loss of UN representation and diplomatic recognition by most of the world’s countries. Still, Taiwan remained viable and emerged as a global economic powerhouse, its security guaranteed by a commitment from the United States and backed by U.S. military presence in the region. The continued American involvement in Taiwan affairs has at times been a source of friction in U.S.-China relations.
Through all this, economic ties improved considerably between the mainland and Taiwan. Taiwan has become one of China’s major trading partners, Taiwan-based businesses have invested heavily on the mainland, and large numbers of people from the island have come to live and work on the mainland. Beijing has continued to press for reintegrating Taiwan as a province of China under mainland administration. However, there has been a sustained movement on Taiwan advocating that the island become an independent sovereign state and not continue to be considered a part of China. Tensions escalated after the pro-independence Chen Shui-bian was elected president of the ROC in 2000. Nonetheless, discussions continued between the two sides, and in 2005 high-ranking Nationalist Party (KMT) officials traveled to the mainland, the first such visits since 1949.
Tensions between China and Taiwan eased significantly after the Nationalists regained control of both Taiwan’s legislature and presidency in 2008. Talks, often at a high level, continued and increased between the two sides on both economic and diplomatic issues. A notable accomplishment of these discussions was a trade agreement, signed in 2010, that would gradually reduce or eliminate tariffs on a large number of goods and commodities exported from one side to the other. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Leaders of the People’s Republic of China since 1949
The table provides a chronological list of the leaders of the People’s Republic of China since 1949.
Leaders of the People's Republic of China Since 1949 Chinese Communist Party leaders name title dates Mao Zedong CCP chairman 1949–1976 Hua Guofeng CCP chairman 1976–1981 Hu Yaobang CCP chairman; after September 1982,
general secretary of the CCP 1981–1987 Zhao Ziyang CCP general secretary 1987–1989 Jiang Zemin CCP general secretary 1989–2002 Hu Jintao CCP general secretary 2002–12 Xi Jinping CCP general secretary 2012– premiers name dates Zhou Enlai 1949–1976 Hua Guofeng 1976–1980 Zhao Ziyang 1980–1987 Li Peng 1987–1998 Zhu Rongji 1998–2003 Wen Jiabao 2003–2013 Li Keqiang 2013–
Citation Information
Article Title: China
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 20 August 2019
URL: https://www.britannica.com/place/China
Access Date: August 26, 2019
Additional Reading
General works
Overviews of China’s physical and human geography may be found in Brian Hook (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China, 2nd ed. (1991); C.V. James (ed.), Information China, 3 vol. (1989), an encyclopaedic work prepared under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Frank Leeming, The Changing Geography of China (1993); and Lin Chun and Hans Hendrischke, The Territories of the People’s Republic of China, 2nd ed. (2006). General atlases include Nathan Sivin (ed.), The Contemporary Atlas of China (1988), including maps, illustrations, essays, and a chronology; and Liu Bin (ed.), Atlas of China, 3rd ed., English ed. (2001), published by China Cartographic Publishing House, with detailed maps of each province and region.
Land and people
Physical geography is surveyed in The Physical Geography of China, 2 vol., trans. from Russian (1969), prepared by the Institute of Geography, U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences; The Soil Atlas of China (1986), compiled by the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Shih-hsun Ch’en, The Climate of China (1962). Studies of minority populations include June Teufel Dreyer, China’s Forty Millions (1976); and S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China (1987). Also useful are Judith Banister, China’s Changing Population (1987); and The Population Atlas of China (1987), on the 1982 census, prepared by the Population Census Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Daniel L. Overmyer, Religions of China: The World as a Living System (1986), is an introduction to religion in everyday life.
Economy
Analyses of the Chinese economy under Mao include Audrey Donnithorne, China’s Economic System (1967); and Alexander Eckstein, China’s Economic Revolution (1977). Studies of the reform transition include Nicholas R. Lardy and Kenneth Lieberthal (eds.), Ch’en Yun’s Strategy for China’s Development: A Non-Maoist Alternative (1983); Dorothy J. Solinger, Chinese Business Under Socialism (1984); Samuel P.S. Ho and Ralph W. Huenemann, China’s Open Door Policy: The Quest for Foreign Technology and Capital (1984); and Nicholas R. Lardy, Integrating China into the Global Economy (2002).
China’s reformed economy is explored in China 2020: Development Challenges in the New Century (1997), published by the World Bank; Barry Naughton, The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth (2007); and Edward S. Steinfeld, Forging Reform in China: The Fate of State-Owned Industry (1998). Reference works in English published by or with the cooperation of the Chinese government include Almanac of China’s Economy (annual) by the Economic Research Centre; and Statistical Yearbook of China (annual) by the State Statistical Bureau.